The UK videogame retailer GAME faces a wait to hear whether or not its acquisition of its competition Gamestation will be permitted under Competition Commission guidelines.

GAME bought its rival back in May for £74 million (EUR 108 million) but it was put under investigation by the UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to see whether the merger would give GAME an unfair advantage against the competition.

GAME were not unduly worried by the investigation, saying, "As expected we have notified the acquisition of Gamestation to the OFT for normal regulatory review. This review will take about two months and we will be co-operating fully with the OFT process".

Things have gone against the retailer, however, with the OFT announcing that it’s referring its investigation to the Competitions Commission which is expected to make its report in January of 2008.

John Fingleton, OFT chief executive, commented, "This merger involves the loss of competition between two parties who, in some segments at least, appear to be each other's closest competitors and in circumstances where we can not confidently rely on new companies entering the market to resolve any issues quickly".

"Without better evidence that competition from other suppliers will be sufficient to prevent the merged firm from raising prices or cutting back services in a way that would harm consumers - in a market where retail sales amount to around £1.5 billion - we must refer to the CC for fuller inquiry."

>> Link - Official Site/Office of Fair Trading
>> Link - Official Site/Competition Commission